Compound Noun and Hyphenation

Margie Wakeman WellsThe Hyphen 6 Comments

When a compound noun that is two words has a prefix or suffix, hyphenate the prefix to the first word or the suffix to the last word and leave the compound noun as separate words. …pre-high school days for him… …post-Revolutionary War period… …real estate-like transaction… …social security-wide reform… Happy punctuating! Margie

The Word “Please”

Margie Wakeman WellsThe Comma Leave a Comment

The word please takes punctuation according to where it is in relation to what it modifies. At the beginning of what it modifies, it takes no punctuation after it. …Please put that notice into the bulletin. …Please state your name for the record. At the end of what it modifies, it takes a comma before it. …Put that notice into …

A “Redefining” with “That Is”

Margie Wakeman WellsThe Comma, The Question Mark, The Semicolon, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Here is a punctuation question from FB that inspired today’s blog: “On examination her lower extremities had normal capillary refill — that is, normal circulation — and no trophic changes, in other words, none of the signs of RSD.” Often people want to redefine or further explain what they have just said. We will deal here with this situation when …

ZIP Codes

Margie Wakeman WellsGeneral, The Comma Leave a Comment

The ZIP code does not take any punctuation in front of it. It goes with the element it follows. …Los Angeles, California 90045, is the… …live in Culver City 90230 with… The comma after the ZIP code is because the word “California” has to be surrounded. So you just tuck the ZIP in there with it. Happy punctuating. Margie

A Reporter Question

Margie Wakeman WellsGeneral Leave a Comment

What do I do when it is clear that the witness has left out a word, probably the f-word, in what he said? …so he took it upon himself to say (here’s where he left out the word) “these guys”… I would recommend …so he took it upon himself to say, “…these guys.” I am not sure there is much …